A pediatric surgeon says he dresses his patients as superheroes so they feel “powerful and brave” in the operating room.
“My daily work is a joy,” Dr. Leandro B. Guimarães, an otolaryngologist (an ear, nose, and throat doctor) in Brazil, tells TODAY.com in an email interview. He adds: “By using playfulness, we can engage with children in a very effective way.”
In an Instagram video shared on his account, Guimarães’ costume-clad patients “fly” (balanced over the doctor’s shoulder) or run while holding hands with Guimarãe, into surgery.
Reactions to Guimarães’ video, played against the song “Stand By Me” by Ben E. King, include, “You’re an angel,” “The way energy can change a moment” and “I can see your cape too.”
Guimarães says the operating room can be a tense environment.
“This idea came from my desire to make the surgical room entrance less stressful,” he says. “The last child I took into surgery ... was Allana, a little girl about two years old who entered in my arms, crying uncontrollably. That day, I promised myself that I would never take a child into surgery crying again.”
Guimarães relies on his craft as a former clown.
“When I started medical school, I joined a clown group where we had theater classes to learn how to be clowns and how to distract children during our weekly visits to pediatric inpatients at the university hospital,” says Guimarães. “Since then, I fell in love with working with children, and over time, the skills I learned as a hospital clown also helped me examine children in the office without scaring them.”
Guimarães typically orders a variety of costumes such as Batman and The Flash.
“I let the child choose which one they want to wear,” he says, adding, “I explain to them that we will go in ‘flying’ or running and that we are going to clear their nose and ears! I enter the surgical room when they are ready and engaged in the game. If I notice they are still scared, I ask a parent to come in with them. That way, anesthesia induction is always calmer.”
Guimarães says after the patient falls asleep, their costume is removed and given to their parent.
“I usually record the child’s entrance and send the video to the mother — they love it because they can show their children how brave they were!” he says.
All children get to take their costumes home after the surgery, and as Guimarães explains, “Some children operated on by my colleagues see them, so I end up giving them one as well.”
According to Guimarães, many of his patients show up to their follow-up appointments wearing their costumes, “proudly showing that the experience was not traumatic at all.”
The doctor says his patients are transformed into fearless superheroes.
“Most children love them!” he says. “They get super excited and feel empowered when they put on the costume! They walk in so happily that their parents also feel at ease and almost forget that they are entrusting me with their most precious treasure for surgery.”
Guimarães feels heroic, too.
“I get emotional when parents tell me that their children pass by the hospital and say they want to have surgery again because their memory of the experience is positive, full of play and fun,” he says.
Guimarães adds, “Some children who later needed surgeries from other specialties wished that I could be their surgeon, even if it was for something unrelated, like an elbow fracture. That is incredibly rewarding for me.”
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